foal
n.n. a young horse that is less than one year old. You use this word to describe a baby horse before it is called a colt or filly.
n. a young horse, specifically one under one year of age. Often used in historical or literary contexts; in modern usage, it is frequently replaced by 'foal' for any young horse, regardless of sex.
The mare gave birth to a healthy foal last spring.
The breeder carefully monitored the mare's pregnancy to ensure the foal would be born during the warm months.
The stable was filled with the soft whinnies of a newborn foal, whose delicate limbs were still weak from the long journey through the mountain pass.
From Middle English fole, from Old English fola, from Proto-West Germanic folō, from Proto-Germanic fulô, from pre-Germanic pl̥Hon-, from Proto-Indo-European pōlH- (“animal young”) (cognate with Saterland Frisian Foole, West Frisian fôle, foalle, Dutch veulen, German Low German Fohl, German Fohlen, Fohle, Swedish fåle; compare also Ancient Greek πῶλος (pôlos), Latin pullus, Albanian pelë (“mare”), Old Armenian ուլ (ul, “kid, fawn”). Related to filly.